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Best Wireless Routers in 2018

Imagine for a moment that you want to play your favorite best video on YouTube while your children use your network as gaming place and your wife checks the prices of a certain item using her android phone, and your router is not the best quality that exists. Digital life becomes impossible, right?

All of the above summarizes finding a good router and here we are going to focus on this article. 2017 promises to be an important year in the development of new wireless technologies and has, in fact, been demonstrated in this first third of the year that is almost over.

One of the indispensable devices to manage an Internet connection is the router and there are thousands of models. So, if you have a bandwidth of more than 100 Mb and transmit videos through WiFi in 4k or you play games online, one of these routers treated here has to be for you because of their high quality and performance.

Three aspects of relevance must be mentioned and are precisely the focus of this article:

Performance

Security

Price

Let’s start this list with one of the most economic equipment there is, but not for it is the underestimated:

ASUS RT-AC1200G+

We have included this router because it seems to be the best Router quality/price rate in the market. And marketing experts take advantage of this feature in the best way. If you are looking a complete device, this ASUS model may be the solution. It is a dual band router, which has AC1200 type WIFI, which supports a maximum speed of 1000 Mbps, and this can be spread over two 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, each of which can be used for different connections, with you can use one for data and another for streaming videos, for example, this way it manages traffic better. It has 4 antennas, two of 2.4 Ghz and two of 5 Ghz.

It has 4 LAN ports, 1 WAN port, so it can work as a router or as a repeater also, it has a USB port to connect devices such as external disks to have data throughout the network.

The device has an additional 3G/4G capability , so you can use a suitable device to the USB port, to share the connection. As security, it supports WEP / WPA / WPA2 protocols and has support for WPS.

This device incorporates a Broadcom BCM4708 dual core at a speed of up to 800 Mhz. In addition, they have also updated the SiSer, device in charge of the 2.4 Ghz band. Now they use the Broadcom BCM4360 which means that the manufacturer ASUS has granted to this the last hardware currently in the market and that include this in the high range of the same.

In addition, not only they have updated the heart of the router itself as it is the CPU and WiFi, but have incorporated a USB 3.0 port to provide the maximum possible speed. Of course, we also find a USB 3.0 port that is new and also a USB 2.0 port on the back. And, of course, its firmware allows for parental control and is compatible with ASUS iCloud.

TP-Link AC5400

This device, with nothing more to say, is one of the best that has made TP-LINK, a brand that not only make cheap routers, but of an impressive quality. This is a multiband Router that reach a speed of 1,000 Mbps in the band of 2.4 Ghz x2 and 2167 Mbps in the band of 5 Ghz.

A very powerful router with professional features, the best thing about TP-LINK is how easy and intuitive it is to manage and configure this Router. To see the other features and the price of this Router look at the comparison chart below.

It features Advanced NitroQAMTM (1024-QAM) and 4-Stream Technology that increase Wi-Fi speeds in all bands by up to 25%, achieving combined Wi-Fi speeds of up to 5334Mbps. The manufacturer maintains the premise that “A More Bands, More Devices” in this way offers a distinct Wireless Tri-Band Wi-Fi for more devices with multiple reliable connections.

Not conforming to this, the manufacturer shows the MU-MIMO which makes the router 4 times more efficient, communicating with up to 4 devices at a time.

More fluid connections, through the Smart Connect technology that automatically assigns to each device the best available bandwidth to optimize performance. Achieve maximized coverage by displaying 8 External Antennas that optimize Wi-Fi coverage and improve wireless connections

Finally, with its powerful 1.4GHz Ultra-Fast Dual-Core processor and its 3 co-processors, they provide fast and stable overall performance.

ASUS RT-AC87U

The second Asus Router of this comparison, it must be said that this brand has given much to speak for its high quality in the manufacturing processes employed for their equipment. This model is double band and has WIFI type AC2400, which reaches speeds up to 2334Mbit / s thanks to its two antennas of 2.4 GHz and other 2 of 5 GHz. This is enough to get a good signal and have, i.e, a best video streaming performance, in part Thanks to MU-MIMO and AiRadar technologies, which provide coverage of up to 465m2 (according to manufacturer).

It has 4 LAN ports, 1 WAN port and also has 1 USB 2.0 port and 3.0 port, to connect devices such as printers, external disks, 3G / 4G modems. It supports 3G / 4G connections, so you can use a USB dongle device to share the mobile signal. In terms of security, WEP/WPA/WPA2 and WPS encryption is available with a quick configuration button.

As an add-on you have AiCloud which is an ASUS online service that allows to synchronize the device and the local network with services in the cloud, giving you access to your files, wherever you are. As far as value for money is not bad, especially if it is bought on Amazon that is usually on offer.

D-Link DIR-890L Cloud

This Router, beyond connecting to the Internet, your guests will be surprised with its excellent futuristic design, you could say that it is a mixture between a spaceship and a sports car. This is a triple-band router with AC3200 WIFI, which reaches speeds of up to 3200 Mbps, which can be spread over 3 bands, 1200 Mbps WIFI AC in 2 bands of 5GHz and 600 Mbps WIFI N in 1 band of 2.4 GHz. It has 6 external antennas with SmartBeam technology which gives a greater reach to the signal.

It has 1 USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, so you can connect other devices such as printers, TVs, USB sticks. For TV’s has DLNA technology, so if you have a TV that supports this technology, it will detect the router and allow you to view your files you have on the network, NAS disks or USB drives. It has common security options, such as WEP / WPA / WPA2 / WPS encryption and also supports a Cloud system, so you can control your computer from the internet.

D-Link DIR-890L incorporates four Gigabit Ethernet ports (10/100/1000 Mbps) for LAN and a Gigabit Ethernet port for the Internet WAN where we can connect xDSL modems and also cable modems. Currently it is not compatible with the 802.1Q standard so it is not compatible with the main fiber optic ISPs that use VLANs to bring the Internet connection to the subscriber’s home. Thanks to the built-in NAT hardware, the transfer of multiple files in the local network is accelerated. Also the transfer through Internet is very fast.
D-Link DIR-890L is administered via 192.168.0.1 IP address. You can access D-Link DIR-890L console by going to this IP address and entering your router administrative username and password.

TP-LINK Archer C3200

Having 6 antennas available with the Archer AC3200 you will be able to cover dozens of equipment and mobile devices wirelessly. It has two 5GHz bands that support 802.11ac. Everything works through the Smart WiFi TP-Link technology that automatically selects the most appropriate frequency band. It offers a simple management interface along with advanced options.

Tri-Band technology creates three separate Wi-Fi bands to connect more devices to your network without dropping performance. With a combined Wi-Fi speed of 3200 Mbps over a band of 2.4GHz (600 Mbps) and over two 5GHz (1300Mbps each) you get a performance unique in its style, along with this, Smart Connect technology helps the Devices to go faster by assigning them the best 5GHz channel to balance the demand on the network. It has a 1GHz dual core CPU and three co-processors to handle simultaneous connections without interruption

Gigabit wireless tri-band router AC3200 Mbps

Dual band (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz)

5x Gigabit Ethernet, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0

Dual core processor at 1GHz

ASUS RT-AC5300

The top of the top of ASUS, the Router that every professional Gamer wants or has, here you have to say goodbye to the Lag. For example, in Call of Duty you will become the most accurate shooter that there is, in streaming videos, before you react to the play button, it will have already been downloaded completely to the cache.

If you have a 300 Mbps fiber connection that requires high capacity, this triple band router should be your first option. It is compatible with WIFI AC5300 that reaches speeds up to 5334 Mbps and is compatible with triple simultaneous band, that is, 2 bands to GHz (up to 4334 Mbps) and 1 band to 2.4 GHz (up to 1000 Mbps), in which you can connect all the devices you want. It has 8 antennas, in a 4 × 4 arrangement with AirRadar technology.

It has 4 LAN and 1 WAN ports and 1 USB 3.0 port to connect other devices. It also supports 3G / 4G connections, you just need to connect such a device to transmit the signal.

As for security, it has the typical encryption, WEP / WPA / WPA / WPS 2 / WPS and also has support for AiProtection with Trend Micro, which adds an extra layer of security, monitoring router configuration and traffic to prevent hacker attacks.

As an additional feature there are some functions for gamers, such as the Gamers Private Network (GPN) technology, which assigns the most efficient route for packages, using Gamer mode. It also features adaptive QoS, a feature that prioritizes game-related package traffic, resulting in low latency when playing online. It is the best Wi-Fi router on the market, about 400 euros but well worth it.

D-Link DIR-868L AC1750

The main features of this neutral router is that it incorporates dual band simultaneous with Wi-Fi AC. We can achieve a speed of up to 450Mbps in the 2.4GHz band and up to 1300Mbps in the 5GHz band thanks to its three internal antennas in MIMO 3T3R configuration for each frequency band.

This neutral router has wireless connectivity, so it supports the 802.11a / b / g / n / ac standards, has simultaneous dual band (2.4GHz and 5GHz), it uses Wi-Fi N and the Three-Stream technology.

As for wired connectivity, it has a Gigabit Ethernet port for the WAN and four Gigabit Ethernet ports for the LAN. It also has a USB 3.0 port for sharing files both on the local network and on the internet through SharePort. It also incorporates a media server (DLNA) to stream video in high definition to the TV or media player.

Technical Features of the D-Link DIR-868L

Wireless: Compatible with 802.11a / b / g / n / ac standards. In the band of 2.4GHz with a speed of up to 450Mbps and in the band of 5GHz with a speed of up to 1300Mbps thanks to Wi-Fi AC.

CPU & Ethernet: Broadcom with NAT hardware .

RAM: 128MB capacity.

Flash: Expansion with 128MB of capacity.

2.4GHz Wireless Controller: Broadcom with Wi-Fi N 3T3R at 450Mbps.

2.4GHz Wireless Amplifiers: 3 x SiGe2605L.

5GHz Wireless Controller: Broadcom with Wi-FI AC 3T3R at 1300Mbps.

Wireless 5GHz Amplifiers: 3 x Skyworks 5003L1

Power supply: It needs a voltage of 12V and an intensity of 2,5Amp

Linksys WRT1900AC Router

It supports the AC1900 standard and has excellent performance. It achieves impressive speeds: simultaneous bandwidth of up to 600 Mbps (2.4 GHz) and 1300 Mbps (5 GHz) for multimedia-intensive applications. The design is not the most successful in the world, but it is accepted because it is a design similar to that which the brand has accustomed us for years. Its price is somewhat higher than other models. Its coverage is really good and the configuration interface is really intuitive. Has four external antennas in MIMO 4T4R configuration and are removable to incorporate others with higher gain.

We have to say that although it incorporates 4 antennas and is MIMO 4T4R it is actually a Three-Stream (three data streams) to achieve a speed of up to 600Mbps in the band of 2.4GHz in Wi-Fi N and up to 1300Mbps of speed in the 5GHz band if we use the standard Wi-Fi AC. The extra antenna serves to improve reception gain and to offer better performance than the current MIMO 3T3R.

WIFI 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac 2.4GHz and 5GHz

4x Gigabit Ethernet; 1x Gigabit WAN

Smart Wi-Fi Remote Access Platform

ASUS RT-AC68u AC1900

The new ASUS router incorporates a novelty compared to its direct competitors. It is simultaneous dual band with Wi-Fi AC, but in the 2.4GHz band uses a 256-QAM signal modulation to get a speed of up to 600mbps (for the 450Mbps of its rivals). This technology is called TurboQAM and owns Broadcom so only devices incorporating Broadcom chipset will benefit from this additional speed. Regarding the 5GHz band, we can achieve a speed of up to 1300Mbps thanks to its three antennas in MIMO 3T3R configuration, so this is a class AC1900 (600 + 1300Mbps). Other features of this model is that all its ports are Gigabit Ethernet for the LAN and WAN, and also incorporates USB 3.0 ports for file sharing at maximum speed. It is expected that soon begin to develop third party firmwares for this equipment, this way you can get the most out of your hardware.

Compatible with fiber optic operators using the 802.1Q standard such as Movistar in its FTTH mode and also Jazztel FTTH.

Regarding the ASUSWRT firmware, it is one of the most complete currently because it is fully functional with a large number of ISPs, and also has a large number of options and services such as a VPN server and even a complete download manager with Built-in BitTorrent client. It also incorporates ASUS AiCloud support, a free application for mobile devices with iOS and Android operating system that allows us to access our private cloud from anywhere and in a very simple way, we also have ASUS AiDisk to access the content from the outside.

Technical Specs of the ASUS RT-AC68U AC1900 Router

Wireless: Compatible with 802.11a / b / g / n / ac standards. In the 2.4GHz band with up to 600Mbps speeds thanks to Broadcom’s TurboQAM, in the 5GHz band with up to 1300Mbps speeds thanks to Wi-Fi AC. We will have a total of up to 1900Mbps of wireless bandwidth, the antennas are external and dual.

Power supply: It needs a current voltage of 19V and an intensity of 1.75A.

Netgear Nighthawk X10 Smart WiFi

Router triband that can work in the 2.4 GHz with WiFi N achieving maximum speeds of 800 Mbps, in the 5 GHz reaching over WiFi AC 1.733 Mbps and in 60 GHz with WiFi AD reaching 4,600 Mbps, which added a theoretical total of 7.9 Gbps.

Equipped with a quad-core processor at 1.7 GHz and MU-MIMO technology to manage multiple data streams simultaneously. But in addition to wireless connectivity, the X10 has 6 Gigabit Ethernet ports to connect network equipment and one to 10 Gbps specially designed to plug in NAS servers.

Also included are two USB 3.0 ports for hard disks, printers and other network equipment and the ability to function as a Plex multimedia server without the need for an additional computer.

Technical Specs

802.11ac MU-MIMO which Delivers WiFi to multiple devices at the same time.

60 GHz 802.11ad WiFi, this means that fastest WiFi interface up to 4.6Gbps is included for ultra-high speed downloads and backup

Compatible with Amazon Echo/Alexa which allows control your home network using voice commands.

And one great feature for real geeks, Open source software available.

TP-LINK Archer C9 AC1900

This is one of the latest router of the manufacturer, incorporates the ultimate wireless technology with Wi-Fi AC and allows to achieve a speed of up to 600Mbps in the band of 2.4GHz and a speed of up to 1300Mbps in the band of 5GHz, therefore it is a device of Class AC1900 (600 + 1300Mbps). Uses three antennas in MIMO 3T3R configuration for maximum performance. All its ports are Gigabit Ethernet and it has a USB 3.0 port.

This device reaches those speeds thanks to the TurboQAM. We have to mention the proprietary technology of Broadcom which uses a modulation 256QAM to obtain these speeds (instead of the typical 64QAM). Regarding the features of Wi-Fi AC, we can point the 80MHz channel width And Beamforming technology. The three external antennas are double-band, so they emit in both frequency bands simultaneously, it does not have internal antennas, something ideal to obtain greater coverage and speed. Finally, it incorporates WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) to quickly connect to the Wi-Fi access point with the push of a button, it also has support for multiple Wi-Fi guest networks.

Regarding the new TP-LINK firmware, it is one of the most complete nowadays, since it is completely functional with a large number of ISPs, and also has a completely renewed and clean interface, with two different menus to facilitate the configuration to the users more and another to configure the router in detail (advanced menu).

Wireless: Compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n/ac standards. In the 2.4GHz band with up to 600Mbps speeds thanks to Broadcom’s TurboQAM, in the 5GHz band with up to 1300Mbps speeds thanks to Wi-Fi AC. We will have a total of up to 1900Mbps of wireless bandwidth, the antennas are external and dual.

Linksys EA6900-EJ

This is one of the best routers on the market. Able to support the standard AC1900, and gives a great speed. Its price has dropped considerably since it was put up for sale. It offers excellent performance at a very good price, with a good design. There are slightly faster routers, but this is more than enough. Wireless-AC: simultaneous bandwidth of up to 300 Mbps (2.4 GHz) + 1600 Mbps (5 GHz) for multimedia-intensive applications, 4 gigabit ports and a Linksys Smart Wifi APP app for IOS and Android . Its configuration is very simple.

Regarding the features in the cloud, this router supports all the features and applications of Linksys Smart Wi-Fi.

Default IP address for Linksys EA6900-EJ router is 192.168.1.1. This IP address is used to administer this router.

Linksys also announced the Linksys WUSB6300, an AC1200 Wi-Fi adapter with USB 3.0 interface to provide maximum performance.

Netgear R7800-100PES Nighthawk X4S

This router has 4 antennas and will provide WIFI 802.11ac. It has 2 USB ports and an eSata connector, and of course, the VDSL 2 modem. The included software is very good and allows you a simple configuration of the router and later control all the devices that you have connected to your network.

With WiFi AC2600 Dual Band technology

2 x USB 3.0, 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports, 1 eSATA

Beamforming + and VDSL 2 modem

Asus RT-N18U

This ASUS RT-N18U device incorporates four Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000 Mbps) ports for the LAN, and a Gigabit Ethernet port for the WAN (Internet), so we can connect cable modems and even fiber optic ONT for having internet connection. Thanks to hardware NAT, we will have great Internet performance with a large number of threads, which prevents us from having the dreaded “bottleneck” in the fastest Internet connections.

This router has a single high-performance USB 3.0 port and also a USB 2.0 port. We can use them to share files via FTP, Samba or HTTP, we can also share multimedia content in high definition thanks to its embedded DLNA server. ASUS AiCloud is a free application for mobile devices with iOS and Android operating system that allows us to access our private cloud from anywhere and in a very simple way, we also have ASUS AiDisk to access the content from the outside. Another functionality of this USB port is that it allows you to connect a 3G or 4G modem and use it as a backup for the fixed Internet connection in case the latter fails.

Wireless: Compatible with 802.11b/g/n standards. In the 2.4GHz band with speeds up to 600Mbps thanks to Broadcom’s TurboQAM.

Xiaomi Mi Router WiFi 3

The main wireless features of this Xiaomi Mi Router WiFi 3 is that it incorporates dual band simultaneous with Wi-Fi AC. In the 2.4GHz band we can reach a speed of up to 300Mbps thanks to its two external antennas with 5dBi gain in MIMO 2T2R configuration. In the 5GHz band we can get a speed of up to 867 Mbps thanks to Wi-Fi AC technology and its two external antennas with 6dBi of gain in MIMO 2T2R configuration. External antennas are high gain to provide the best possible coverage in our home. Regarding the security provided by its firmware, it is compatible with wireless encryption and also has WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) to quickly connect to the access point with Wi-Fi clients.

This new Xiaomi Mi Router WiFi 3 Router incorporates a MediaTek MT7620A processor running at 580MHz speed, has 128MB of DDR2 RAM and 128MB of NAND Flash memory to store the firmware. Other features included in this router is that it has a Fast-Ethernet port for the Internet WAN and also two Fast-Ethernet ports for the local network (LAN). Finally, it has a USB 2.0 port that will allow us to share files in the local network and Internet thanks to the Samba and FTP services.

The firmware included in this new Xiaomi Mi Router WiFi 3 is based on OpenWRT, which allows the modification of its graphical interface, so we will have the possibility to install a lot of additional software and make the most of the hardware of the computer. In fact, Xiaomi provides the SDK so developers can expand the possibilities of the firmware.

Below is a very brief summary of the best features of all the equipment mentioned above, including price, performance characteristics and value added.